Monitoring power transmission lines using a wireless sensor network

Abstract

Power transmission is the bulk transfer of electrical energy from power plants to sub-stations. A wireless sensor network is a promising technology for transmission line monitoring due to its low cost, easy installation, large-scale coverage, and fault tolerance characteristics. A wireless sensor network is application-specific; therefore, we investigate the new features and requirements of the wireless sensor network used in transmission line monitoring. Then, we propose an efficient wireless sensor network framework, which includes a clustering algorithm to simplify network management and to balance the network's energy consumption and a hybrid media access control (MAC) (H-MAC) protocol to handle traffic variability. The framework takes advantage of the features of network topology and traffic pattern to optimize the protocols' performance on real time and energy efficiency. The results indicate that the H-MAC shows a significant improvement in the network's reliability, real-time performance, and energy efficiency, and the cluster hierarchy can balance the network's energy consumption. Furthermore, the cluster hierarchy also prolongs the network's lifetime.

A Cognitive Radio-Based Energy-Efficient System for Power Transmission Line Monitoring in Smart Grids

“…Transmission poles are roughly deployed in a line; thus, the sensor network is linear in topology. Lin et al [12] proposed a dense set-based clustering algorithm upon hybrid media access control by rotating the role of relaying node to create an intracluster energy balance considering the linear topology. Taking into consideration linear topology limitations, with low data-carrying capacity and a short range for communication, a pure wireless sensor node-based network would fail to successfully deliver the data to the PCC.…”

Power requirements and battery life measurement for wireless transmission between two nodes in different mediums

“…Lin et al, [12] have proposed an application of linear network in power transmission lines. In this case, they used a clustering algorithm to balance energy consumption and leverage hybrid media access control for monitoring the power transmission lines.…”

Delay constrained relay node placement in two-tiered wireless sensor networks: A set-covering-based algorithm

“…As WSNs are progressively employed in the time-critical applications, e.g., industrial automation and smart grid (Kumer et al, 2014;Gungor and Hancke, 2009;Lin et al, 2014), the importance of the Delay Constrained RNP (DCRNP) problem is highlighted recently. Taking the factory automation as an example, the data sensed by SNs is typically time-sensitive, such as alarm notification and information for feedback control, and thus the importance of receiving the data at the sink in a timely manner is noticeable (Liang et al, 2011;Zheng et al, 2015).…”